For Once, Do Something Right, Weasley!
by hermionejeangrangerweasley
Summary: STORY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. I'm just editing everything. The plot is the same. Ron wants to propose to Hermione and doesn't know how so he seeks help from Harry, Who's never proposed to anyone either. Will it be a sucess or will everything go wron?
1. Preface

Ronald Weasley always ruins everything. I don't mean making Harry's plans to save the world go horribly askew, I mean he always ruins his chances of getting what he wants. He's always tongue-tied, and when his tongue finally becomes unscrambled, he can't say the right thing. So, yes, it can indeed be agreed that he _always_ messes things up.

Ever since his first year at Hogwarts, he'd fancied Hermione Granger, only he didn't realize it. In fact, the only person to realize that after him was Hermione herself. It wasn't until fourth year when he woke up and smelled the pumpkin juice. Of course, it still took another three years for them to get together because he couldn't manage to put his mouth in its place. The problem now, was that he wanted to marry her. Not going to be easy for a man who can't open his mouth without the wrong words coming out. He accidentally insulted her the first time she asked him out, for the love of Quidditch!

And that's not to mention Viktor Krum and Lavender Brown, to name a few.

It had been terribly unlucky, really. In fourth year, Krum invited Hermione to the Yule Ball first and they just ended up arguing. Again. However, Krum's role in the anti- Ron/Hermione scheme became more potent in their sixth year. Of course, if you were to ask Ron, it was his sister, Ginny's fault. In an argument, she had just happened to let it slip that Hermione had snogged Krum. Of course, that wouldn't have happened if he hadn't walked in on her kissing her boyfriend and gotten all "over-protective-big-brother" But in All honesty it was Ron's fault. Why? His reaction.

You see, instead of just taking it as it was, our dear friend Ronald went and started snogging Lavender Brown to get back at her. All that did was make her go to Professor Slughorn's Christmas party with his Quidditch rival, Cormac McLaggen to make _him_ jealous. Ron just ended up getting bloody'd up by a bunch of birds.

So as you can see, Ron is not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. The list goes on, but after mentioning Krum, Miss Brown, and McLaggen, I think you get the point. Ronald Weasley is a bona fide idiot…. According to his sister, anyway.

So, how could an idiot of this nature propose to his girlfriend without a glitch- the most likely being her breaking up with him?

Ask his best mate Harry, of course.

After all, Harry was at least a little better with girls than Ron. He didn't make _his_ girlfriend cry all the time! I mean, sure he broke up with her once because he was being a noble git and trying to save her life, but that was four years ago. He's bound to be smarter now! Besides, compared to Ron, he's pure genius. It was obvious;

Ron would get his help from Harry!


	2. Harry, Ronnie, and Mum

Ron was lying on his bed tossing a little black box up in the air and catching it, thinking of how best to ask her. For once, he wished it wasn't his day off. He didn't even have work to keep his mind off of the task he was about to do.

Then there was a knock on his bedroom door. Ron jumped about a mile and stuffed the little box in his sock drawer before calling, "Come in."

Ron's best mate Harry walked in. The exact person he needed to talk to. He suddenly remembered that his sock drawer was still open. He closed it with a guilty look as if he'd been stealing and sat down on his bed. "Hullo, Harry. I thought Kingsley was going to need you in all day. Bit busy, isn't it?"

"Ah, it was supposed to be, but it wasn't- which is actually a good thing. I was told by a couple of er..." Harry gave a little cough and scratched behind his right ear nervously, "little… er… birds that I had to talk to you... about… er…" he stopped. And started looking around, avoiding eye contact with Ron at all costs.

"Why's Hermione mad at me now? What did I do this time? Did Ginny tell you for her? I 'spect she did," Ron asked nonchalantly. Harry really didn't need to be that worried. I mean, this happened at least twice a month.

"Er... well… according to her, you have been a bit… ignorant. Apparently you've been ignoring Hermione a bit, and they want to know why. Supposedly. According to Ginny," Harry replied, adding "supposedly"s and "according to Ginny"s in the hope that Ron wouldn't be as angry with him.

Ron rolled his eyes and snorted. "Funny. I wanted to talk to you about the answer to that question. I… er…well…what it is… see… the thing is, Harry… I… um… well-…" Ron stuttered nervously. He realized that he wouldn't be able to get it out. So he just shook his head and began staring at his sock-clad feet.

"You want to propose to Hermione, don't you?" Harry asked knowingly. Ron couldn't understand how Harry always seemed to know absolutely everything that Ron could never put into words.

"Er… well… yeah," Ron said hopelessly. He couldn't help being nervous that someone knew what he wanted to do, even if it was just Harry.

Harry chuckled. Ron really was hopeless. "Well, I can't tell Hermione that." He rolled his eyes. "So, how are you going to do it?"

"Er…. That's the thing, Harry. I don't _know_ how. I need help." Ron said sheepishly, glancing up at his friend for a quarter of a second before glancing back down again.

"And why would you want me to help, you bloody idiot? I've never proposed to anyone before!" Harry contradicted. "Why don't you ask Bill? He's been married for four years and his wife hasn't killed him yet! He's even got a two year old!"

"_Yeah_, but Harry…. I trust you slightly more than Bill. You know my brothers. They'll go telling everyone. Plus, you're actually good with girls… well, better than I am anyway. You can actually… I don't know, but…. Harry, come on! You _know_ I won't be able to do this without help. Admit it Harry. I'm a failure at this kind of stuff. But you're not!"

Ron sighed. He couldn't believe that Harry had suggested that he ask one of his brothers. Bill would just smile knowingly and chuckle, then start telling stories! And George would do evil, evil things. Charlie would laugh at say, "Figure it out, Ron…. Of course, if you want to know how to tame a dragon, I'd be glad to help…. As long as you tell me what breed first." Percy would scoff and tell him to stop being so shallow and do something important. Why couldn't he have any sensible brothers?

"Alright, alright. I'll help," Harry said, finally giving in. Ron was good at revenge. "Alright, mate. Let's start with the basics. What does Hermione like to do with you?" This had to be the weirdest thing Harry'd ever done to do to help Ron.

"Uh… I dunno," Ron said. He was just chock full of answers.

"Alright then. This is going to make it harder. My best mate is a numbskull," Harry groaned. He'd rather try to have a reasonable conversation with George. "Well, since Christmas is coming up soon, why don't you do it on Christmas eve?"

"Alright but what would we do?" Ron fell onto his bed, head first.

"Uh… the most romantic thing I've got is Paris. Would it be safe to apparate to Paris?" Harry said with a shrug.

"I dunno. Go ask Mum." Ron said, jokingly. If Harry actually did ask his mum… he shuddered at the thought of what he might have to do to his best friend. His sister would definitely kill him for it, but the revenge would probably be worth it.

"Ok. I'll be right back." Harry said and dashed out of the room, snickering at how stupid Ron was for even suggesting it. Did he really think Harry _wouldn't_ ask her, just to annoy the hell out of his best mate?

"Harry! I didn't mean it!" Ron screeched, sitting up again, but Harry didn't come back. Ron sighed. Of course.

* * *

Harry skipped the last three steps and walked into the kitchen, still laughing inwardly at Ron's expression when he'd left. What did he care if Ron tried to kill him? What he was really worried about was what Hermione would do to him if he didn't "fix Ron" as she'd put it. Mercifully, Mrs. Weasley was standing in the kitchen, making sure the dishes didn't make a mess as they cleaned themselves.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked, fighting to keep down hi laughter. "Can I ask you a question?"

Mrs. Weasley turned around and smiled at the boy she thought of as another son. "Why of course you can, Harry. Sit down and we'll have a nice little chat." Harry sat down opposite Mrs. Weasley, as instructed. "Now, what is it, Harry dear?"

"Well… Ron wants to know if it's safe to apparate to Paris." Harry said in a rush. He didn't want her to think _he_ was the one up to something! Of course, she probably thought so anyway, simply because what he'd said was just like "I have a friend who wants to know…".

"Oh! Really? And may I ask why my son wishes to apparate to Paris?" she asked, a bit suspicious, as Harry had known she would be, that it wasn't Ron who wanted to take a trip to Paris.

"Well… you should probably go ask him." Harry decided, trying to make her believe that it really was Ron who wanted to talk to her. "I don't think he'll want me to tell you."

Mrs. Weasley smiled and shook her head before leading Harry up the stairs to Ron's room.

~*~

As his mum opened the door, Ron almost fainted. His brain was whirring through a list of the most horrible insults he could possibly think of. Things like, "_Harry is the evilest, most vile creature on the planet, even if he did defeat Voldemort, or, as George would say, Lord Moldy Shorts. Or the dark lord Pants-less. Or the Bumblebee killer…. Actually, Hermione came up with the bumblebee one. Supposedly, that's what Dumbledore means in whatever the hell bloody language it was,"_ and everything else insulting her could come up with. Ron couldn't wait for his mum to leave so he could use them all on Harry. Ron then decided that after he had insulted Harry properly, he could kill Harry and frame Viktor Krum…. Then go into hiding in case Ginny figured out who had actually killed Harry Potter.

Mrs. Weasley rushed over to Ron's bed and sat down next to him. "Now, Ronnie dear, tell mummy everything. Why do you want to apparate to Paris?" Ron stared at his mother, open mouthed. He couldn't believe she'd just come right out and said it. Mrs. Weasley, however, took his expression to mean that he was nervous about telling her. "Oh, my poor Ronnie! Don't be ashamed! It's alright. I promise that I won't tell anyone else!"

Ron took a deep breath and then managed to say in about twenty seconds, "CauseIHermioneIwantandI-I-Iyeahandwellyeahand…yeah?" Ron stuttered in reply. Harry snorted. He doubted that even Mrs. Weasley could understand that. Harry, it appears, was wrong.

Mrs. Weasley grabbed her son, hugging him so tight that he was sure it was a safety hazard. Mrs. Weasley then exclaimed, "OH Ronnie! That's it? Oh! I have another little boy getting married! You know you could have just told me that! Oh Ronnie! Well, honestly dear, if you want my opinion, I'd go with a portkey. It is much safer over such a long distance. Anything else you need help with?"

"Er… Yeah," Ron said, looking nervously at the ground, thankful that his mum had finally released her death grip on him.

"Oh, what is it?" She asked, excited to be asked to help.

"Everything!" Ron wailed and flopped over and buried his head in his pillow yet again. He would rather eat his own arms than figure this out himself…. Well, that's what he was telling himself, anyway.

"Oh, dear," she said, worried. "Well, dear, what do you think Hermione would like to do? That's always a good start." Mrs. Weasley was trying to be helpful, but Ron was beyond help.

"She'd like to write her own version of _Hogwarts, a History_, but that's not exactly helping me!" Ron exclaimed bitterly and Harry chuckled in the background, earning himself a death glare from Ron. That was when Harry decided to leave. He didn't want to be praised for living to defeat Voldemort _again_, only to be killed four years later by his moody best friend.

Mrs. Weasley sighed and said, "Well, you mentioned Paris- or, rather Harry did for you. Is that what you were thinking of?" Mrs. Weasley couldn't help but marvel at how completely hopeless her youngest son was. _A bit like Arthur used to be, really_, she decided.

"No. Harry thought of it. But it was better than anything I thought of. I was thinking of doing it on Christmas Eve, though," Ron confessed, feeling a bit stupid.

Mrs. Weasley could tell that Ron was feeling like his idea was stupid and she couldn't help but wonder why. It was sweet. And even if it had been stupid, Hermione would've appreciated it all the same."OH! Ron that's so sweet! How about you take her to see the Eiffel tower?"

"Alright," Ron agreed. This was how Ron saw it: His mum _was_ a girl. And in Ron's book that meant that she _knew_ things. Things no guy could ever understand. He decided to take the bait and go for whatever she said… after he took a nap, of course.


	3. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, OH MY!

Ron Weasley was sitting on his bed, looking nervously at his best friend, who had a sheet of paper and was quizzing him. They both knew that Ron couldn't afford to make a single mistake in his proposal, so they went over the details constantly. "Alright mate, let's go over this again. 1st step?" Harry asked.

Ron's face contorted into one of despair and Harry almost screamed in frustration. Ron didn't even know the first step! "Er… Yeah… were we starting with making the portkey or starting with when I take her outside?" Ron asked.

Harry sighed in irritation, but at least Ron hadn't been as naive as Harry had originally thought. "Ron! I told you! We're starting the night of! Your mum is taking care of the portkey!"

"I still can't believe you told her Harry." Ron said shaking his head. Ron was thinking back to the week before when Harry had told his mum what Ron was planning. Harry glared at Ron for getting off task _again_.

Ron groaned. "OK, ok! Fine! First I ask her if she wants to go for a walk. Then we get our coats and go outside. I then proceed to ask her if she'd like to go somewhere more romantic. Then Hermione and I take the portkey to Paris and go to the restaurant, whatever the heck it's called. Then we-" Ron was cut off by Harry cursing loudly. "What?" Ron asked, not at all understanding what the big deal was.

"You don't know what the restaurant is called." Harry said disappointedly, not even realizing the similarity to Dumbledore that had entered his voice. The calm disappointment that had ways made Harry feel a hundred times worse for whatever it was he'd done wrong.

"I know where it is though! I really do Harry!" Ron said desperately. "I'm not going to blow this! I mean, I know I mess everything up, but this is one thing I won't let my big fat mouth or lousy memory mess up! I can't mess up Harry! I just can't, so I'm not going to!" Ron took a shaky breath and plowed on. "Bloody hell, Harry! I go to sleep _dreaming_ about exactly what has to happen when! Every nightmare I've had since I decided I wanted to propose has revolved around me screwing it up completely!" Ron paused, and contemplated whether or not to add the worst part of the dream. Unable to help it, he mumbles, "Half the time she ends up with Krum." Ron kicks the wall in irritation.

Harry was silent for a moment. He hadn't realized how completely terrified Ron had been about the whole thing. "Look, Ron, you'll be fine. I know it. Sure, you tend to be a bit of a git most of the time, but Hermione loves you anyway. You know she won't care if you mess everything up. Just calm down, and concentrate. What do you do next?"

Ron nodded and thought about it for a moment. "We go eat. After that I pay and we leave." Harry wondered how well his little pep talk worked, because Ron still seemed extremely tense. "We then go to the top of the Eiffel tower in the elevator because the stairs are murderous and evil. Then we stand there and stuff and I faint

because I'm so nervous and she has to call an ambulance. Did I get it all?" Ron asked. "Er… no." Harry said. "You got the end wrong."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Ron. You're joking right? You don't faint, you ask her to marry you!" Harry groaned and fell into a chair opposite Ron's bed.

"Whichever happens first," Ron muttered glumly. Harry couldn't take it anymore. He needed help. Time for the Weasley women to intervene. Harry walked out of the room and downstairs to get Mrs. Weasley. And Fleur. Well… maybe not Fleur. It's not like he wanted to kill Ron or something… then again, she'd been proposed to by a Weasley and quite frankly, Ron needed all the help he could get.

~*~

Hermione walked up to the door of the burrow and knocked. Hopefully Harry wouldn't be there this time. It sounded mean, true, but every time he was, Ron stayed locked up in his room the whole time she was there, and quite frankly she hated it. Why was he being so distant and moody?

Mrs. Weasley opened the door and said "OH! Hello Hermione. Ron's in his room. You can go on up if you'd like." Mrs. Weasley had told Ron that he and Harry were not allowed to plan while Hermione was over anymore. She knew Hermione was sick of it, and quite frankly, she was too. "It's rude," she had told him.

"Alright. Thank you Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said and went upstairs, just glad to finally have some time to spend with Ron.

When she got to Ron's door she knocked and waited. "Come in," he said and she slowly pushed the door open. As Hermione walked in, she saw Ron slipping what looked like a black box into his sock drawer. She didn't get her hopes up though. Knowing Ron, it was probably just a sock. "Hi Ron," she said quietly, closing the door behind her.

Ron whirled around in shock. "Hermione- hi! I- I didn't know you were coming over today. How are you? It's good to see you. Here. Sit down. How is work going? Is-"

"Ron. RON! Calm down. Stop freaking out. It's just me, ok? Just Hermione." Ron started to calm down and she just sighed. "I'm only going to be here for a little bit because my parents were expecting me home at six…." Ron looked terrified for some reason and Hermione sighed. "Of course… I could always leave now if you wanted me to. You look a bit uptight," she said, not really wanting to leave. She'd hardly seen him lately as it was.

Realization hit Ron as and he immediately tried to calm himself down and act more hospitable. "Oh, no. No, it's fine. You don't need to leave. Sorry. Just a little stressed out," he said, trying to make a bit of an excuse.

When it came time for Hermione to leave, Ron walked her to the door. She was just about to disapparate when Ron's usually tight tongue came unraveled. "Hey, Hermione!"

She stopped and turned to face him. "Yes, Ron?" Why was it not until she had to leave that he had something to say? She wondered bitterly.

"Well…I was thinking…. Christmas Eve? Just us. We could do something special, if you wanted?" he blurted without thinking, but he compensated for this slip of the tongue by deciding that Harry and his mum would be glad he'd gotten somewhere, and any chance he'd had for regretting his asking now was washed away when he saw the look of pure joy on her face.

Hermione swallowed her excitement so that she could squeeze out a coherent, "Yeah. Sure. That would be great! Where are we going?... So I know where to meet you."

Ron smiled at her. "Actually, Hermione, just come here. I want it to be a surprise."

~*~

"You WHAT?" Harry screamed. It was only the first of November and Ron had already asked Hermione about Christmas Eve! Ron couldn't understand why Harry was so uptight about it. He'd been thinking more along the lines of "HEY! I finally did something right!"

"Well… I asked her to meet me here for a date. Harry! I had to say something! I couldn't not tell her, mate! Do you know how angry she's been with me recently."

Ron's words did nothing to change Harry's mind. "I don't bloody care, Ron! It's November first, for Merlin's sake! It's almost two months away! Are you out of your mind?" Any normal person would have merely stated that Ron was, in fact, out of his mind, but Harry was a tad bit nicer to his best friend than any normal person would be.

"I don't know Harry! Go ask Ginny! I'm sure she'll give you a fantastic answer to that question! She'll even tell you why she thinks so! But come on! What was I supposed to do? I mean, so what I'm going to freak out and die? At least I was able to bloody ask her in the first place! Ron took a shaky breath, but he absolutely couldn't calm down. Of course, that should be no surprise to any woman, because when men are acting like idiots, nothing gets in their way.

"Ron, relax, or I'll get your mum to calm you down, then tell George what you're doing on Christmas Eve, just to annoy you for annoying me so much!" Harry threatened, which did indeed seem to work.

"GEORGE?! Harry, no! Are you trying to ruin my life? Really, Harry! I'd die if you told George! He'd tell absolutely everyone else in the world, and that would mean that Hermione would know and… please Harry, don't do it," Ron said helplessly. Harry wished that he felt bad for his threat when he saw his friend in such a state, but he honestly couldn't.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. I'm not going to tell George…. And remember what I told you: never take anything from George that is going to "help" you. All that means is that he's trying to fool you around," Harry added, just in case.

Ron glared. "Harry, trust me. I don't need you to remind me of that. Do you honestly think I don't remember after the last time?" Ron shuddered at the thought. So much hair…. "I'm not as dumb as Ginny thinks! Give me a break!"

December 23

Ginny waltzed into Ron's room without knocking and smiled knowingly. "Hello Ronald, darling brother of mine, who is ready to take the next step in his relationship!... And don't worry. I swear that I didn't tell Hermione. Back to the point, relax. You won't die tomorrow… unless, of course, someone drops an anvil on your unsuspecting little head, and, for some odd reason, I don't think they will," Ginny said cheerfully.

"Shut up! And how did you know? Did Harry tell you? He swore he wouldn't! Did mum? She said she wouldn't tell anyone but Dad because it was... why am I telling you this?" Ron said, stopping abruptly. How was it that no matter what was going on, Ginny was always able to find a way to weasel it out of him?

"You're telling me this because I am the most wonderful sister in the entire world. And I knew you were because I'm a girl and girls are very perceptive." Ginny babbled on.

"Well, that's no bloody help! It just makes everything harder! Why do girls have to be perceptive? Not only is it unfair, but it makes it next to impossible to keep a secret!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ron, you have a very limited vocabulary." Ginny pointed out, happy to be able to find something else wrong with her brother.

"I do not!" Ron said indignantly, though if you asked him how he'd said it, he wouldn't know what to say, as he doesn't know what the word indignantly means.

"Then what does mean?" Ginny challenged proudly.

"Well, it's the fear of… Hmmmm… oversized hippos?" Ron suggested hopelessly, praying that he was right.

"Well, you're closer than I was when Hermione asked me if I knew what it meant, so I'll give you that! Bye!" She said cheerily and bounded off down the stairs to breakfast.

"SO YOU'RE NOT EVEN GOING TO TELL ME WHAT IT MEANS?!" He shouted after her, but his devilish sister just kept right on going.


	4. The Proposal

For all of December 24th , Ron was running in and out of the house, and when anyone asked, he'd just say, "Can't talk. Gotta go. Bye." Ginny wasn't much help either. She just sat there with a knowing grin on her face watching Ron. In fact, she looked like she was enjoying herself even more than when she was snogging Harry- she wasn't, of course, but it looked like it. And when anyone asked _her_ what was going on she'd just say, "You'll see," and go back to smirking at the panic-stricken look on her brother's face.

It was 3:30 when Ginny decided to check on her older brother. She went into his room to find in on the ground, riffling through everything in his room. He was panic stricken.

Ginny didn't make fun. She could tell that it wasn't the time. "Ron? What's wrong?"

He froze and looked up at her. "I lost it," he said simply, not quite up to saying anything else.

"Lost what?" she asked. She thought about adding something witty to the end like, "Your mind?" but decided not to. She may like to taunt her brother, but she knew when not to push him. Now was one of those times.

Ron snapped out of it. "The ring, Ginny! I lost the bloody ring!"

Ginny tensed, and then relaxed again, trying to sooth him. "Alright, alright Ron. Calm down. Alright. Good. Now check your pocket."

"Ginny, it's not in my-"

"Just check your pocket," she repeated. He did.

"It's not there," he stated flatly.

"Damn."

As unhelpful as her suggestion was, seeing his little sister struggle calmed Ron down, and he was able to think clearer. He didn't know what it was- probably something about sibling rivalry, but seeing her stressed cleared his head immediately. "Accio ring!" Ron said, feeling quite pleased with himself. The box, ring and all, came zooming into his hand through his open window.

Ginny looked in the direction it had come from. "You know what? I don't even want to know."

Ron shook his head. "Neither do I." He sighed and set it down on his night stand. He turned to his closet and started to rife through it.

With a sigh, Ginny decided to cut her brother some slack. "You know what?" she asked.

"What?"

"You have to leave soon. Why don't you go get a shower. I'll pick out your clothes."

Ron eyed his little sister warily.

"Ron, I'm not going to do anything bad. Promise. I swear on Dumbledore's grave. I don't hate you. I just like to mess up your life. But not with something this important. Just let me help out. Now seriously. GO take a shower. You smell."

Ron smiled at her and rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Ginny," he said as he began to leave.

"Oh! Ron?" Ginny called.

Ron popped his head back around the door frame. "What?"

"Don't use the soap as shampoo and the shampoo as soap. Generally doesn't go over so well."

He laughed. "You wouldn't happen to be speaking from experience, now would you, my dear sister?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh shut it, you." Ron smiled at her and laughed, walking away. Maybe they would both live to see her marry after all.

~*~

After his shower, Ron pulled on his pajamas and walked back to his room. Sure enough, Ginny was there with her head in his closet, pulling things out every now and again.

"You know, as much as I hate to admit it, you're a life saver, Ginny. Fashon? Not necessarily my strongest suit…. Or any guy's for that matter. I think."

Ginny smiled and tossed her brother a roll of the eyes. "I know," she replied simply and took the clothes and put them on his bed, "OK, what do you think about these?" she asked putting the items together into different outfits. Ron ended up choosing a black suit with a white shirt and light blue tie.

"I hoped you'd pick that one," Ginny told him, "I probably would have forced it on you if you hadn't picked it," Ron started to laughed, but the look in her eyes showed that she was serious. "Well get dressed. And good luck…. Oh and if she does say no- which she won't. I wouldn't tease you about it if I thought she would- I know some people at Mungo's who could get a room set up for you in an instant."

He glared at her. "Thanks, Ginny,"

"Ok, Ok! Leaving! I'm leaving!" She left backed out of the room and closed the door behind her, thinking that she may possibly have gone too far.

Ron was quite pleased to be alone again, and he changed. Sure, Ginny was helpful, but the sense of humor really just wasn't doing it for him. Unfortunately, his little sister had set up camp right outside his room and as soon as he came out, she pounced.

"Ronald! Did you even brush your hair?" she waved her wand to produce a lovely purple hair brush and started running it through her brother's hair as forcefully as she could." Ron tried not to yell at her, but by the final yank, it was becoming next to impossible for him. "And there!"

He just looked at his sister and said, "You're lucky you're useful sometimes."

"Nah, you love me," she said and he just shrugged and started to walk away from her.

"WAIT!" she screeched.

Ron sighed. "What?"

"Flowers!" she explained and with a wave of her wand she produced a dozen red roses that she handed to Ron. Ginny smiled. "Ok. Now you can go."

"Thanks, Gin."

"Sure. OH, and by the way, I wouldn't help you if I didn't know it'd work out."

Ron shook his head. "I don't know what it is, but having your evil little sister's confidence is about as reassuring as it gets."

"Oh shut up and go propose to your girlfriend."

"I'm serious!" he exclaimed and ran away from her.

~*~

Ron was sitting at the table, waiting. He was tapping his feet nervously. It wasn't that he didn't think he could do it, it was more… how can you not be nervous when you're proposing to someone? And he was too used to screwing up with her. So naturally, he didn't have the most pleasant reaction when his little sister came downstairs and said, "So, Ron. George and I have a bet. I say 5 galleons you back out. He says 5 that she says no."

In fact, his reaction was something along the lines of, "You told George?!?!?!?"

Ginny smiled brightly. "No. I just wanted to see your reaction if you thought I did. But I will tell him if I get any sign of you getting cold feet, so cheer up!"

"You can be truly evil sometimes, you know that, don't you?" he asked her, glaring.

"Of course I know that! But, come on! How boring would your life be if I wasn't?"

"OH! So that's why we keep you around! So our lives aren't boring! Thanks for informing me!" Ron said cheekily.

"You are so-" Ginny began.

"Hey, you started it. Don't look at me!" Ginny was about to retaliate when there was a knock on the door. Ron coughed loudly. "Well… why don't I just go?"

"Alright. You do that. And remember, don't chicken out. You can't weasel out of this. Act like a man, not a mouse. And- "

Ron turned around. "Please Gin, cool it with the animals. I get it. You can make jokes. Ha ha."

"I was gonna say good luck."

"Oh… right. Well… thanks." Awkwardly, Ron excused himself to go get the door. When he opened the door, his mouth fell open, just a little bit. Hermione had her hair in a bun with a few curls falling down. She was wearing a pale blue dress that came to her knees and a brown coat.

"Wow, Hermione, you look… er… wow!" He said, for he was, quite unsurprisingly, at a loss for words.

"You don't look to bad yourself." She told him, and they left the house, soon to embark on a new adventure. Because hey, what's wrong with cheesy?

As they walked out into the yard, hands clasped, Hermione smiled up at him and said, "So, where are we going?"

"_That_ is for me to know, and you to find out. Later." Ron said, smiling back. He then tweaked her nose for 'good measure'. She glared and pushed his hand away.

"Ron! That's not fair! Come on! Tell me." She glared at him, trying to look threatening, but he just laughed.

"'Mione, you'll find out in a second. Relax," he said, the last bit being meant more for his sake than the sake of his girlfriend.

"Ron, who else is in on this? Be honest." Ron keeps his lips pressed tightly together, refusing to answer. "Really, Ronald! Stop pretending. I know help."

"You know EVERYTHING! I have proof now! You officially know everything!" he exclaimed. She gave him a steely look and began to tap her toes in anticipation. Ron finally gave in. "Alright, alright. Well, I asked Harry to help me because a) he's my best friend and b) he knows way more about girls than I do. Then Harry got this idea, but we didn't know if it was possible. So he asked mum. I was joking when I told him to! Well, then, Ginny and her… Arnold found out by her powers of observation and so she knows…. Only, I changed what we were doing, so none of them know that."

"That was one very interesting and very illiterate paragraph. Congratulations," Hermione said in sarcastic amusement.

"Hermione," Ron said seriously, "Answer me one question. After all these years, how, in Merlin's name- hey! I didn't say pants! You can't be mad at me!-am I still illiterate?"

"Because you only listen when I say your illiterate but you fail to do so when I tell you how to fix the problem," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.

"That explains so much. You have NO IDEA!" Ron exclaimed, happy to have learned something new.

Hermione smiled. Ron was really such a child sometimes. But that was what she loved about him. He always managed to be childish and genious all within the same five minutes. "Ronald, while I've enjoyed this very _interesting_ conversation, shouldn't we go now?"

"Oh yeah. Right. Sorry," he said and linked arms with her, spun 'round and they disappeared.

When the tight squeezing feeling was gone, they were standing in a beautiful, garden on the edge of a cliff. It over looked a little brook and forest. There was a picnic blanket and a basket with a few of those blue flames that Hermione was so good at producing sitting all around it.

"Oh Ron!" Hermione gushed, "This is the most wonderful thing you've ever done for me!... Well, saving my life was better, but Ron! It's amazing!" She hugged him tightly and kissed his unsuspecting lips.

When she pulled away, the look on his face was one of happy shock. "Right… yeah… never ever would've gauged this reaction, but what ever you say! If you say it's amazing, then it's amazing!"

"Oh, Ron, you're so ridiculous." Hermione shook her head in disbelief.

"But that's what I'm for!" he countered. "And come on, how boring would your life be if I wasn't ridiculous?" He didn't care that he'd borrowed that line from Ginny. It wasn't like she'd find out!

"Well, I don't know about boring, because my life certainly is not boring, and you know that. Honestly, no one who is friends with Harry ends up having a normal life, so not boring, no, but I'll admit, without the sarcasm and jokes, it most certainly wouldn't be as interesting," she said smiling.

" And Harry was brought into this conversation _why,_ if you could just remind me?" Ron asked in irritation. This wasn't supposed to be about Harry. He imagined Ginny smirking and saying, "Well, that's what you get for stealing my line."

Hermione groaned. "Harry was brought into this conversation because I was trying to make a structured point with concepts that prove the theory of what I'm explaining."

"What?" Ron asked. He hated it when she said things intellectually.

Hermione sighed, "I'm trying to make you see that I'm right by using examples of things that make my life un-boring. And now I'm mad at you. Un-boring isn't a word and you made me have to use it!" Hermione huffed.

"Come on, 'Mione. I'm sorry! It's just that when you use words like that, I have to pay really good attention, but you talk too fast, because you always talk really fast when you're making things more complicated than they need to be, and I miss words and don't understand the concept! And yes, I do know what concept means!"

"I didn't say you didn't know what concept means! And besides, is that really the point?"

"No, it's not, so let's eat." Ron said, happy to get there conversation back to lighter topics.

Hermione laughed at him for having a stomach that got more words out than his brain and they sat down on the picnic blanket to eat.

After dinner they packed up the picnic basket and lay down on the blanket, so they could look at the stars.

"It's so beautiful out here." Hermione said, scooting closer to Ron. He put his arms around her and she rested her head on his chest.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, thinking that the beauty of the sky was nothing to the beauty of his girlfriend, but he didn't say it out loud, lest it sound too cheesy.

And then, it began to snow, the first snow of the year. It wasn't snowing too hard, but it was snowing, nonetheless. It was quite a beautiful picture, the two of them laying there as the flurries flew down around them. They stayed silent for quite some time, before Ron finally decided that it was time.

"I… Hermione?" he said, standing and pulling her to her feet, and pulling her closer.

"Yes Ron?" she said, a bit confused by his sudden movement, though she couldn't exactly say that she minded.

He held both her hands in his own and said, "Hermione- oh, wow. I… well, I love you. You know that. And I… oh man Hermione, you know I'm bad at this kind of stuff, but, Hermione, I…Well…" he bent down and pulled the box out of his pocket and said, "Will you marry me?" And then, somewhere in the distance, a clock chimed midnight and Hermione's eyes welled up with tears.

"I- oh, Ron! Of course!" she said, falling into his arms.

When she loosened her grip, he pushed the ring onto her finger and stood up, cradling her in his arms and letting her wipe her tears on his jacket, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm just being stupid, but-" at that moment they heard a loud banging noise and Hermione gasped. Ron turned around and saw WWW fireworks in the air, spelling out,

'Merry Christmas, Hermione!

I love you!

Love, Ron'

Then they heard laughter and Ginny fell out of a tree. "GINNY!" Ron yelled, "I told you not to tell George!"

Through fits of laughter Ginny gasped out, "I… know… but Mum was worried… she said… to come… look… for you and….to-to to….HAHAHA take….George….and I told….him…to grab….some fireworks….and he…he asked…. Why…so I told him….that it….was to… annoy… you…and…bring…Christmas….joy to the world…and he was all for that….so he asked….if I wanted….I wanted…. Words….and I said- I said…. Yes….and… it ended up… like that… HAHAHAHA!" and she fell into endless fits of laughter.

Then George stepped out from behind the trees with a huge grin on his face, "So this is what took so long! Little Ickle Ronniekins was a wee bit nervous. Congrats anyway, my buffoon of a brother," he said and quickly put Ron in a head lock and mussed up his hair.

"Ugh-George! Get off! Gerroff! George! Come on! No fair!"

"GEORGE!" Hermione yelled, "Stop acting like the immature, fatuous child-monkey hybrid we all know you are, and let go of him!"

"Ok, I have know idea what have of that meant, but it sure sounded smart and really, really scary. What did it mean anyway?" George asked

Hermione sighed, "It means that you are immature. You know what that means, right?" George nodded and she continued. "fatuous means that you're foolish or inane, especially in an unconscious, complacent manner." George nodded his head in approval. "You know what a child is and what a monkey is, and a hybrid is a cross between two things. Like Crookshanks. He's a kneazle-cat hybrid. Half cat, half kneazle. In your case, half monkey, half immature, foolish child."

"Hermione, you just described my brother in a way that anyone who's ever met him and tried to discipline him would be proud of." Ron told her, rubbing his neck where George's arm had cut into it.

"You know Ron, for once in your very worthless, life- no offence, Hermione. Lots of offence to you though Ron - you were right!" Ginny pointed out.

"Actually, he's been right before this Ginny. And don't say that. It's rude." Hermione scolded.

"Right, well Hermione, congratulations and good luck. I don't know how you're able to put up with him now and I don't know how you'll put up with him in the future, so good luck, and don't die."

"Oh yeah!" George suddenly exclaimed. "Go tell Mum! She'll absolutely die! No, you will… she'll crush you with one of her mental over-excited Mum hugs and you'll die… unless you tell Dad first. He might be able to hold her off…." George mused.

"Shut up," Ron said and he and Hermione apparated away holding hands, back to the Burrow.


	5. Telling the family

When Ron and Hermione appeared in front of the burrow, she was shaking. It wasn't the lack of oxygen from apparating, nor was it the worry of what people would think. It wasn't even telling the Weasleys that had her worried! No, it was merely the thought of having to tell her own parents later. It wasn't that her parents didn't like Ron- in fact; they thought he was just wonderful. It was more the fright of her dad's reaction to the word marriage in general. Because, in all honestly, telling any father you're engaged is an extremely dangerous thing. Of course, being only the second scariest thing to tell one's father, it won't be the most horrible that she'll ever have to do.

"So, are you ready?" Ron asked her, taking a finger and running it down her cheek to try and calm her down. When she didn't respond, he murmured, "Hermione…" and pulled her in close, tucking her head under his chin and holding her to him. "It's ok. They won't be mad at all. They really like you. You know that. And besides, thanks to Harry, mum already knows. And to be honest, she's looked just as happy as she did when she found out about Victoire. It's honestly scary how da- er, darn happy she is. And dad, he's always liked you. And it's not just because your parents are muggles, though I know he's going to love having muggles as in-laws. No big deal, ok? It'll be fine."

"Thanks Ron," Hermione said, smiling up at him. "But to be perfectly honest, I'm more worried about telling my dad." She felt him tense and gave a light laugh. "Not because he doesn't like you. He's just over protective. Well, no. That's not the right word. I guess… he doesn't like seeing me grow up. I mean, I suppose he wouldn't have liked seeing me grow up if I was a boy, but for a girl it's probably like daddy's little girl is growing up and needs someone else more than daddy now. I mean, that would upset anyone. But don't worry. I'll be ok as long as you're there."

"Well, if that's all, let's go," he said sarcastically. Ron now had Mr. Granger to worry about. He moved her so he had is arm around her shoulders and they walked towards the house, ready to tell his family the news.

They knocked on the door and Mrs. Weasley pulled it open, grabbing them both into a bone crushing hug.

"MUM! Stop! Mum- ow! That hurts!" Ron exclaimed, ripping himself out of his mother's grasp. He massaged his shoulder and sighed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm so happy! My little baby is getting married!" Mrs. Weasley squealed, pulling Ron back into another hug.

"MUM! I'm not a baby! I'm 21, for Merlin's sake! Stop it!"

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry, but I'm just so happy."

"Hermione, please tell her that she already said that," Ron interjected, getting very irritated with his mother.

Hermione just sighed and said, "Ron, I'll be in the living room when you decide to stop being rude to your mother," and wiggled out of his grasp, walking briskly across the room and falling onto the overstuffed couch.

Ron sighed, "Sorry mum. I just… I'm a bit tense, ok? I mean, Ginny and George were being insane and exploding fireworks all over! Then, Hermione pointed out that I've still got her father to deal with! I don't know why I didn't just ask his permission in the first place to get it over with faster! Then there's the fact that I absolutely _hate_ it when you make such a big fuss over and me, and well…." He shrugged hopelessly

"I don't believe it! Did Ron actually just apologize for something? That has to be the 1st time in the entire history of the world!" Ginny exclaimed, bursting through the door.

Ron turned around to glare at his little sister and older brother pushing their way into the house. He groaned and walked past his mum towards Hermione. He sat down next to her and sighed. Hermione snuggled into his side contentedly.

"I love you," he murmured into her hair and she 'mmm'ed in reply, barely managing to push herself closer to him.

"Hey love birds, what's up with you?" Charlie teased as he was walking into the room with a firewhiskey in hand. Ron and Hermione jumped and slid away from each other.

"Nothing. Go make fun of Bill instead. I'm sure he's doing something a bit more interesting than we are," Ron suggested bitterly.

"That doesn't mean it would be more fun. You're much more temperamental. Although… I would leave you alone if you'd tell me where all this fluff came from on your parts," Charlie said mischievously. He was no Fred, but he certainly did have some tricks up his sleeve.

"Well if you must know, we're getting married. So round up the rest of the family so we can tell them. Oh, and if you tell them for me, I'll kill you."

"Really?" Charlie asked in amazement.

"No. I just said that because I wanted to see what you'd do." He rolled his eyes. "Come on, Charlie! I thought you were smarter than that!"

"Right…. Well, Congrats, Ron. You're not as much of a prat as we thought! And as for you Hermione, you're even braver than I ever imagined! You're putting yourself in a position to have to deal with my brother willingly!... Well. I guess that's why you were in Gryffindor." And he ran off before Ron could do anything rash.

Ron stood up to follow him, but Hermione grabbed onto his sleeve. "Ron, leave it," she told him. "Charlie was just messing with you. He's you're older brother. It's his job." Hermione coaxed him back into a sitting position. "Just relax. You don't need to kill your brother for teasing you. _Especially_ since he hasn't killed you yet."

Ron took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'll start working on it on New Years."

Hermione shoved his shoulder and rolled her eyes. "Lovely, Ronald. Because people _always_ keep their New Years resolutions."

Ron sighed. "Well, now that plan's down the toilet. I was hoping you didn't know the New Years thing."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ron, everyone knows that. Only a select few people in this world keep their New Years resolutions, and I doubt that you're one of them!

A few moments later, there was a stampede of Weasleys, with Harry being carried along in the crowd. Ron and Hermione got off of the couch to make room for them all. "Ron, what's going on?" Bill asked, clearly irritated. Victoire was crying on his lap. Fleur glared at her husband as if it were his fault the baby was upset and took Victoire into her own arms to hold. She calmed down immediately.

"Well, Bill, What's going on is that we need to tell you all something," Ron told his older brother.

"Ron, what did you do now?" Percy asked. "You didn't get fired did you? Then again, it'd probably be a good thing if you lost your job with George. Then you could do something respectable." Ron glared at Percy.

"No, Percy, I didn't loose my job. And you want to know how you should've known it? You should've known I didn't loose my job, because if I had, how the hell would I've been able to afford _this?_" He asked in irritation, holding up Hermione's left hand.

There was dead silence for a moment, before the couple was engulfed in hugs and shouts. And that was probably a good thing, because it caused Hermione to forgot to be angry with Ron for the pathetic way he'd told them all.

Everyone was up past two and Hermione was far to tired to even bother going home, so it was agreed that she would stay the night in Ginny's room.

_~*~_

Hermione awoke to the sound of Ginny's alarm clock blasting the Weird Sisters. She couldn't fathom why Ginny would've left it on. It was set for seven, for the love of Merlin! Deciding there was no way she could fall back asleep after hearing the title track of the band's new album; The _Real_ Truth about Voldemort, Hermione got up and huffily went to change her clothes.

"Good Morning, Hermione!" Ginny said brightly. Hermione ignored her. "Why are you mad at me?"

"You woke me up to a song about Voldemort 'shaking hands and kissing babies' and opening an animal shelter! And at seven in the morning, no less!" Hermione exclaimed, trying desperately to pull a hairbrush through her ratty hair.

"You would've preferred the one about Harry?" she asked, but Hermione was no longer paying attention. She was now contemplaiting the task ahead of her. Because personally, I don't really like that one as much. I mean, It' got a great beat and all, but I don't like the part that says his socks smell like rotten eggs. That's just mean! The nerve of some people, I'll tell you-"

"Ginny, please, shut up! I'm thinking!" Hermione exclaimed in irritation.

"Well I know that!" Ginny exclaimed. "You're always thinking. What else would you be doing right now? Ignoring me because you want to stare at that picture of Harry over there? Nah, that's my job. But what I don't know, is what you're thinking about. So what are you thinking about?"

"How not to get my head bitten off," Hermione replied glumly.

"Who'd biting your head off? Because, honestly, that does make a difference. If it's mum, run. If it's Ron, just fire a couple of curses at him. If it's Dad, just show him some newfangled muggle doo-hicky. And if It's George, drop a watermelon on his head…. Of course, if it's Bill-"

"Ginny! Shut up! I am not in a joking mood! This is serious! I mean, you may not care if my father kills me, but I do! Just SHUT UP. And if I hear one more note of "The Day Neville Learned to Read", I swear I'll kill you!"

"Hermione Granger, that is the most hilarious thing I've ever heard you say!" said a voice from the doorway. Both girls turned quickly to see who it was and spied Ron leaning casually in the doorway.

"Oh! Ron, Hi!" Hermione said in surprise. She ran over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She was about to back up, but his arms snaked around her waste and he held her close.

"Hang on a second," Ron said, pulling her closer. "Happy Christmas," He whispered and pressed his lips to hers sweetly for a moment.

"Ugh. Ronald! I don't have a problem with you kissing your fiancé as long as you DON'T DO IT IN MY ROOM!" Ginny shouted. There was something slightly disturbing about her brother kissing someone while in her room. I mean, his own room, or anywhere else in the house, fine, but it was _her_ room! She was the only person allowed to kiss people in her room!

Ron looked up glaring at her. "GINNY! Can't you shut up! I was trying to kiss Hermione, you numbskull!"

"I _know_ that! But please, don't do it in my room! Would you want me to walk into your room and just start kissing Harry?"

"Well, no, but you don't have to be such a bloody-"

"Language Ron!" Hermione intervened, praying that Ron would just give it a rest. Ginny _was_ right, after all.

"OH, like you never swear!" Ron countered. Why was it such a big deal?

"Ronald, yes, I swear on occasion, but there is usually a reason for it! Swearing should be an outlet for your anger! Could you just give it a rest- ya know, stop with the curse words dropped every other second for today?"

"I don't swear every other second!"

"Well, pretty close to it then! Would you like me to set a timer?"

"Er… Ron?" Ginny said and got no reply because Ron and Hermione were still bickering. "Ron? RON! YOU WERE ARGUING WITH ME, REMEMBER?!"

"Oh yeah. BECAUSE ALL I DID WAS KISS HER? Come off it Ginny. It's not like you haven't done worse!" Ron screeched.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny shouted back. "What are you suggesting?"

"What do you think I'm suggesting?" He replied evasively. No need to let his sister know he was making this up as he went along,

"Why, I- I-" Ginny drew her wand, but Hermione was quicker.

"Protego!" Hermione shouted and Ginny stuffed her wand away again in defeat. "Honestly, it's Christmas. Can't we all just… you know- lay off each other for today?" She asked and pulled Ron out of the room and down the stairs.

"You are absolutely amazing. I am the luckiest man alive. You just saved me from my sister. I love you even more now. Can we just elope right now instead of telling your parents? I need Ginny protection 24/7," Ron exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"Honestly Ron, that's not funny. You were completely out of line. I just did that because I don't think my parents would appreciate you showing up bleeding all over their carpet. And _no,_ we can't elope. "

"Fine, fine," Ron replied. "I was just kidding. I don't want to elope anyway. Because even though I can be pretty thick sometimes, there's one thing I know for certain: NEVER ELOPE. LET YOUR FIANCE PLAN EVERYTHING…. My dad taught me that when I was two…. I've never asked why, though, because it seemed a bit… frightening.

"Well, Ronald, you probably should've asked," Hermione replied and scurried away, leaving Ron to mull over what she'd just said.

"Ah, Hello Hermione. How are you this morning? What can I get you?" asked Mrs. Weasley as Hermione entered the kitchen. She was obviously ecstatic about getting a new daughter-in-law.

"I'll just have some toast if that's alright, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said.

"Oh that's fine, dear," she said and scurried off to get the toast.

Ron reappeared shortly after his mother had gone to see how the toaster was doing. Hermione teased him lightly about how much he ate while Ron teased her about the fact that she didn't have a book at the table for once. When they had finished, the pair stroad outside to apparate over to Hermione's parents' house.

They regained their breath behind a couple of bushes in the front yard and walked over to the door. "Nervous?" Ron asked, trying to disguise his own fright. Hermione nodded and then bravely rapped on the front door. They waited.


	6. Telling the Grangers

As they waited for the Grangers to open the door, Ron couldn't realize why he was even doing this. Lucky for him, he regained his senses before he talked to Mr. Granger, otherwise, it would have been a scary day for everyone. Especially Ron. And his sanity.

Ron had met the Grangers before, many times in fact, but never under like circumstances.

Mrs. Granger had always been very kind to him. In an attempt to keep things cheery and try to hide his fear, Ron kept bringing him up. Every time he did, though, Hermione just ' mhhm'd' and said "Just be glad she's not a Mrs. Bennet- Because honestly, if you were any Mr. Darcy, we'd all be fried goose." Of course, Ron had no idea what in the name of Merlin (he'd been leaving off the pants recently because Hermione got so mad at him. He only said it when she wasn't around.) she was talking about, seeing as he never read _Pride and Prejudice_.

Mr. Granger, on the other hand, was really nice, but he tended to get protective. VERY protective. Ron always tried not to think about the 1st time he'd taken Hermione out on a date that started with him picking her up at her house. It had been quite a painful experience for him and he didn't like to relive it.

Mr. Granger had started asking about his past relationships, his father's job, his siblings, why he liked Hermione, what he thought of his best friend dating his sister (Hermione had apologized for telling her parents about that later), his grades in school, his favorite book (he was lucky Hermione had just forced him to read _The Odyssey_ a month before. At the time he read it, he was just glad she was letting him read it in English and explaining it to him as he went, but when her father asked that question, he'd actually had an answer other than "_Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump"_not to mention Hermione was pleased), and much, much more. It hadn't necessarily been the best experience of his life, but it got Mr. Granger to trust him a little bit more, which was a blessing for Ron. He just hoped that he was still blessed in that way now, but wasn't quite ready to test that.

Luckily for Ron, Mrs. Granger opened the door. "Oh! Hello Ron! Oh Hermione dear, how are you? Happy Christmas! It's so good of you to visit on the Holiday! I've missed you both. Come it, come in."

"We're fine Mum. Is Dad home? We'd like to have a word with the two of you." Hermione answered promptly and Ron was oh so happy Hermione could be in a situation like that and not act nervous.

Mrs. Granger looked worried at first, but then nodded. She knew that it wouldn't be anything that Hermione didn't think was responsible, and she had a good idea of what her daughter's beliefs were.

When they were inside, she had them sit down on the couch. "I'll go and get him. Would you like some hot chocolate and cookies?" she asked them.

"Yes please," Ron said. That was what he liked about Hermione's mum. Always ready to give away free food. Alright, well, not just that. That was just a perk of having her around. In all honesty, he really preferred the fact that she wasn't terrifying like Hermione's father. Ron couldn't help but wonder if all fathers were terrifying. He never exactly met Lavender's father, thank Merlin for that. Ron couldn't help but be jealous that Harry only had his dad to worry about. He failed to remember that his little sister had 5 brothers who would gladly kill Harry at the drop of a hat if he did anything wrong.

"How about you dear?" Mrs. Granger asked, turning her attention to her daughter.

"Alright mum. Thank you."

"It's no problem at all dear. I'll go get your father."

After Mrs. Granger left the room, Hermione whispered, "Are you nervous?"

"Yep," Ron replied. "Honestly, I'd rather be taking your dad's quiz from the 1st time I picked you up for a date."

"Well, luckily for you, you might be getting another one."

"Um… now I'm scared. What'll the questions be like?"

"Ronald! How am I supposed to know? Do you really think that I've been through this before?"

"No," Ron answered sheepishly.

She sighed. "It's alright. Now let's see… knowing my father, the questions will be slightly realistic, slightly insane, extremely protective, and all together obnoxious…. Good luck!"

"Wow Hermione. That makes me feel _a lot_ better," Ron replied, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"And he'll probably ask why you want to marry me. And I would recommend not cracking jokes in your answer to that question. I mean, dad does like a laugh- you know that. He just hates sarcasm in serious situations. Which you love. So watch it. Please."

"Sure. I'm just glad to know where you get your seriously damaged sense of humor from."

Hermione looked at him angrily for a moment. It was not the time for this. "Ron! Please don't. I'm not in the mood for this right now. And you know very well that I don't mind jokes. It's just when they interfere with things like work or school that they annoy me. And you know my dad well enough to know that he isn't that serious. Remember that time when you came over but I was working and the two of you started having this long conversation, comparing Quidditch to muggle sports and I could hardly get you to leave? And after we came back, the two of you started talking about the joke shop! You know you don't believe half of what you just said. Why is it different right now?"

"Oh yeah!" Ron exclaimed, recalling the conversation. "That was fun! And he said he'd like to watch Harry and… me? Yeah, me. He wanted to watch Harry and me play Quidditch. And he asked if you played! If I hadn't heard the sarcasm in his voice, I don't know what I would've done." He caught the look on Hermione's face and sobered up immediately, switching topics. "But you're right. I'm sorry. I just… your relationship with someone is different when you're talking sports than it is when you're stealing their daughter. And I don't mean to be mean to you. You're right. I'm just… terrified. Sorry 'Mione."

Hermione smiled at Ron when he finished. She only allowed her parents, Harry, and Ron to call her 'Mione. Ron had actually started it. Hermione sighed. "Ron, you still amaze me. Every day. I don't know how you do it. Always keeping me on my toes. But Ron, thank you. For apologizing and explaining. I can't sympathize with you when you yell at me, and… You are absolutely the most wonderful person that I've ever met," she told him, just before her parents arrived.

As they entered, Ron sat up a little straighter, scooted a little farther from Hermione, and tried to be as polite as he could. "Hello, Mr. Granger," he said.

Mr. Granger smiled and shook Ron's hand. "Hello Ron. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. And you're doing well, I hope?"

Mr. Granger smiled and nodded. "Yes, thank you." He shifted his attention to Hermione. "And how's my little girl?" Mrs. Granger set down a tray of mugs and chocolate chip cookies. Ron eyed them but didn't dare make a move to take one. He didn't want to be polite. He may not exibit good manners very often, but his mother did drill them into him as a child.

"I'm fine Dad. How are you?"

"I'm absolutely great. Happy Christmas, darling."

Hermione smiled. Her father hadn't called her darling since she was about six or seven. It was nice to be treated like a little girl again. Almost like he knew he would loose her soon, so he was trying to keep her closer as long as he could. At that thought, her smile faltered a little bit, but she managed to keep it on.

"Happy Christmas, Dad," Hermione said and then paused, looking a bit awkward. Might as well get it over with. "Er… Dad? Ron and I had something to tell you and mum. I… well, Daddy, Ron asked me to marry him. And I said yes." In her nerves, Hermione continued to talk, the speed of her voice rapidly increasing as she went on, not letting anyone get a word in edgewise. "So now we're getting married. I'm not quite sure when, but I'd imagine it'll be around June or July, so keep your schedual open. And don't worry about the details, I can take care of it all. I could even pay for most of it if you want… maybe. I don't know. I've never been married. I'm not sure quite how much everything'll cost. A lot, though, probably. And I'm sure Ginny will want to help, anything to get out of doing work that she actually needs to get done, so she'll help. And I want to keep the logistics and everything as unmagic related as I can so that our side of the family can come." Her voice faltered at the strange look on her father's face. "Dad?"

Mr. Granger looked as if his head might pop off. Not because he was upset, but because it was so much to deal with. He probably would've been better off if his daughter hadn't started rambling on about everything. It reminded him of all the details that go into a wedding. He couldn't deal with a wedding announcement and wedding planning all at the same time!

The color of Mr. Granger's face reminded Ron of some of Harry's descriptions of his uncle when he was angry, which made Ron nearly start shaking out of pure terror. His thoughts were somewhere along the lines of, "_Well, at least I didn't have to say it. Hermione, thank you. But…erm… could I leave before your dad reacts to this? I'd rather deal with dark wizards. They're nothing compared to angry fathers._"

Hermione seemed to read the thoughts from his face and almost started laughing at him. She didn't, though. She knew her father, and it would not have made for a comfortable situation.

Mrs. Granger seemed to be torn between happiness for Ron and Hermione and worry that her husband would explode. Out of all of them, she was the most relieved when Mr. Granger sighed, the color of his face returning to normal, and said, "Well. I see that congratulations are in order. You make sure to find out a date soon so that we can make sure we don't have people scheduling appointments early on what will be one of the most important days of my daughter's life. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"

Hermione sighed and said "Oh, Dad!" before jumping up and wrapping her arms around him. She was laughing and crying at the same time, out of the sheer joy of her father's acceptance of her decision.

~*~

When Ron and Hermione came back to the Burrow, they were surprised to hear Mrs. Weasley shouting within.

"-What were you thinking? Utterly irresponsible and rude! Why would you do something like that to your sister? I mean _really_! George Weasley! I'll have you know that I have half a mind to destroy every last drop of that infernal new trick of yours. What kind of potion is that? Really, George, what _were_ you thinking?"

"Mum! Relax! It didn't work properly, anyways, though I'll admit, it was quite amusing the way it did turn out. It was supposed to make her be funny, but really, it made her act like an idiot. Actually, I bet a lot of people would pay big money to get there hands on it and feed it to Filch. That's really not a horrible idea, actually."

"George!" snapped, finally unable to take his ridiculous scheming. "You go and apologize to your sister right now! And believe me, if you don't destroy that potion, I will!"

George got up and left to go find Ginny with a somber look about him. "Hey Ron, Hey Hermione. I see you survived. Wish I'd had as much luck."

"Uh, hi Mum. What did George do this time?" Ron greeted his mother with caution, afraid she would blow up at him as well.

"Oh, well, he tested a new product on her. Poured it in her pumpkin juice at breakfast. You're lucky you weren't here." Mrs. Weasley replied, clearly not amused.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"Let's just say that it involved puss filled boils and out of tune singing."

"From Ginny?" Hermione asked. Hermione had heard her sing, and thought that Ginny had a rather nice voice.

Ron rolled his eyes. "No Hermione. From the-"

"Boils, yes," Mrs. Weasley said and nodded. She was clearly not joking. Ron, however, was.

He burst out laughing. "Are you bloody kidding me? Singing boils? I've never heard anything so blasted hysterical in my entire life! Did Harry see them? Oh God, I bet he enjoyed that!" And he erupted into laughter once more.

Mrs. Weasley was about to reprimand him, but Hermione beat her to it. "Ronald _Bilius_ Weasley! What have I told you about using that language? It's not necessary! And you're being very insensitive! She's your sister! Just because George is insensitive to everyone else's feelings, doesn't mean you have to be. God, Ronald, have you reverted back to having the emotional range of a teaspoon? I was hoping that we would be at a tablespoon by now!

"Hermione," he whined.

"Ronald, I'm serious. I've had enough of this childish behavior."

He sighed. "You're right. Sorry Hermione. I- I'm just going to go see… you know… how she's feeling…" He trailed of.

Hermione smiled. "I knew you weren't hopeless."

Ron gave her a slight grin and then stumped off towards the stairs to his sisters room.

When he was out of earshot, Mrs. Weasley chuckled. "You have a better handle on that one than I do."

Hermione shrugged. "I guess it's just ten years of friendship. Not to mention the fact that we were in cramped quarters for nearly a year when Harry, Ron and I were off trying to destroy Voldemort and all. You get to know people rather well when you're trapped in a tent with them every minute of every day." She smiled in spite of herself. "Not that I minded it. Harry and Ron were very sweet- except for when Ron was hungry, that is."

Mrs. Weasley snorted. "Yes, that boy… he's always been abnormally cranky on an empty stomach. None of his brothers were that bad- well, except for maybe Charlie. And look where that's gotten him? Feeding dragons." She laughed and hugged her soon to be daughter in law. Ronald Weasley and his many peculiarities was a subject on which they were both highly educated.


End file.
